Tempting Fate
by cpjjgj
Summary: AU After throwing herself in front of the Killing Curse, Leila Potter decides to move on with her life rather than return to the hardships of the war. Only, she finds herself in a world where her parents are alive…and that isn't the only thing that has changed. Fate has somehow led her here, but the question is why?
1. Meet the Parents

It was quiet. Too quiet. Had they already lost? Had Voldemort already declared his victory? If so, she better not move, lest she be spotted. Leila Potter lay there with her eyes closed, holding her breath and trying her best not to move. Her body felt stiff. Her arms felt heavy and her head ached. She supposed that's what usually happened to a person when they stepped in front of a Killing Curse. That was the last thing she remembered. Stepping in front of a bloody Killing Curse with Harry. If she had to fulfill her prophecy, she was certainly going to do it her way. But how was she alive, breathing, and in pain?

Slowly, Leila opened her eyes. She expected to see the Forbidden Forest with the crowds of Eaters and Voldemort. She expected to see the light from spells being hurled at the castle and those defending it. Never in a million years would she have anticipated the sight before her. It was too contrasting a sight from the last time she had opened her eyes. Before her was a welcoming bedroom decorated in Gryffindor paraphernalia, Holyhead Harpies gear, and frames of moving photographs. There was what looked to be an armchair similar to those from the Gryffindor common room in a corner. A desk, bookshelves, and a wardrobe lined the walls. This space looked comfortably lived in and it looked almost exactly like what kind of bedroom Leila desired.

Paralyzed by the unfamiliarity of her surroundings, Leila took it all in. Beads of sweat perspired on her forehead and her breathing became unsteady. She supposed she should have known she wasn't where she had thought she would wake up. She wasn't lying on the cold, hard ground. Instead, she was in a rather comfortable bed. There were no sounds from the raging battle. It was silent. Almost too silent...aside from the ringing in her ears. Perhaps it was a trick? A ploy? Perhaps Voldemort had done something to her and altered her state of mind? She glanced around the room for a sight of something familiar. Something that might give away the deception and bring her back to reality. But she found nothing.

Leila managed to sit upright on the bed when a ginger flash of hair flew up from the end of the bed and said, "Boo!" Needless to say, Leila screamed at the top of her lungs, backing herself into the wall behind the bed, knocking a photograph from the wall. The glass smashed against the floor

The brown eyes of a little girl with ginger hair and freckles, who standing at the end of the bed, widened in horror. She screamed in return and raced out of the room calling, "Mummy! Mummy! Mummy!"

Leila began to panic. Whatever the hell this was, Leila needed leave...and she would likely need her wand in order to do so. She lifted the pillows. Drat. It wasn't there. Leila threw the blankets from her body and searched the bed. She always slept with her wand. Always. Especially since she had been given her wand back. It wasn't in the bed with her, nor was it on the bedside table.

She forced herself to her feet. Her body ached from the movement and her head throbbed, but she forced herself to search the bloody room for her wand. She needed it before someone else came in for her. If she could get the wand she might be able to Apparate...or in the very least, defend herself. Leila felt wobbly on her feet and the room seemed to spin But she needed her wand...and fast.

There was a gentle knock at the door. Leila turned to see who it was and she froze. Standing in the doorway was a woman with long ginger hair and bright green eyes. Concern was clearly written over her face, but there also seemed to a certain warmth. The woman looked like an older version of her mother from the pictures in her photograph album. "Leila," the woman said gently as she crossed the threshold and walked toward Leila.

Once again, Leila screamed as she bolted to the other side of the room as fast as she could. Her body was still in pain. But the woman in front of her couldn't possibly be Lily Potter. Lily Potter had died in Godric's Hollow many, many years ago. This person had to be an imposter. "Get away!" Leila hissed. "Get away from me, you-you _Death Eater!_ " Leila began to pick up books from the bookshelf behind her and throw them at the woman.

The older woman's eyes widened in horror as she dodged the books Leila hurtled her way. But she didn't charge at Leila. Nor did she pull a wand out at Leila. She didn't even yell at Leila. Instead, she turned toward the door. "James!" she called loudly. "James come quick! I need your help with Leila."

There was a distinctive popping sound from someone Apparating and suddenly there was a man, who looked an awful lot like an older version of James Potter and he standing behind Leila. Leila tried to throw a book at him, but he was quicker than she was. He wrapped his arms around Leila and held her tight. Leila began to flail to try to get away from him. He tried to kick and beat against him. But he just held her tighter.

"Let go of me!" Leila seethed. "Let go!"

"Sweetheart, calm down," the man who looked like her father said calmly. "You're going to hurt yourself."

Leila continued to fight, but he continued to hold her tightly. Tears were streaming from Leila's eyes. After everything that had happened, she wouldn't play fool to another ruse by Lord Voldemort. Not again. The man whispered calm reassurances to her to get her to settle down, but Leila continued to fight. After all, that was what she had been molded into...a fighter.

There was another popping sound and the woman reappeared. Leila hadn't even seen her disappear. But she was now coming toward her carrying a goblet of something. "Leila, darling, please drink this. It will help you calm down."

"No!" she hissed in pain. "I won't take it. I won't!" She had lived long enough in the stupor of calming draughts. She wasn't about to take another. The woman looked startled by Leila's words, but she also seemed to look at her sympathetically. And then the woman did something she wasn't expecting.

The woman gently placed her hand on Leila's cheek and looked her in the eyes. Leila was startled to see that up close the woman's eyes matched her own perfectly. Noticing that she had Leila's attention, the woman softly breathed Leila's name. She then began to hum. Hum a song that Leila's mother used to hum to her when she was a baby. A song Leila had heard played many times by her music box.

Leila's bottom lip began to quiver as emotions began to overwhelm her. She stopped fighting and started crying. Tears streamed down her cheeks. Seeing Leila's change in demeanor, the woman set the draught down and quickly rushed to envelope Leila in her arms, who was still being held by the man who looked like her father. Only, his grasp of her had changed. He still held onto her tightly, but his embrace was much more gentle.

Leila wasn't sure what she was supposed to be doing. Neither this man nor this woman seemed to be doing anything to harm her. Just the opposite, in fact. They seemed to be trying to help her. Why would Death Eaters do that? To get her to trust them. Tears still stinging her eyes, Leila hissed, "Who are you and what do you want from me?"

The look on the woman's face looked pained as she slowly backed away. "Leila," the man behind her said, his tone was very disappointed.

"It's alright, James," the woman said, her brow furrowed. "Some memory loss was to be expected." The woman looked at Leila and sighed. "Sweetheart, it's me, Mum."

Leila shook her head. "No, my-my parents are dead."

The woman shook her head and grabbed Leila's hands and held them in hers. "No, we're right here, sweetheart."

"No! You're Death Eaters!"

The older woman's brow furrowed. She knew she needed to play to Leila's logic in order to win her over. In order to calm Leila down, she needed her to see reason. The woman placed her hands on Leila's cheeks and looked into her eyes once more. "Leila, if we were Death Eaters, wouldn't we have used some sort of magic against you by now? They would have bound you magically, not have your dad hold onto you. They would have used some sort of spell to knock you unconscious. Your father and I both have our wands and we've only used them to Apparate in here...to help you."

Leila chewed her bottom lip. The woman did have a point. She had never known a Death Eater to forgo a magical opportunity, aside from Draco...but that was different. None of this made sense. Why impersonate James and Lily if Leila knew them to be dead? How had they been able to transform into James and Lily if they had been dead so long? Had some of their hair been left somewhere? If so, this was a cruel, cruel joke.

Suddenly, Leila's head began to throb. Leila closed her eyes and screamed, her hands tightly clutching her head. She would have fallen to the floor, had the man not been holding onto her still. Memories began to flash through her head. Memories of number four Privet Drive, Hogwarts, the Burrow, Malfoy Manor, the Black Lake, the Forbidden Forest, Diagon Alley...Harry, Draco, Ron, Fred, Hermione...they flashed so quickly, like a broken film reel, and then everything stopped.

Leila could see Dumbledore standing in front of the Black Lake in the boathouse at Hogwarts. A boat was floating in the water beside him. He was standing with herself and Harry. Well, a version of herself. It was strange to see herself. Was that really what her hair looked like? But Leila tuned into the conversation they were having because this scene seemed awfully familiar.

" _What if we decide not to go back?" Harry asked._

" _Well, Harry, you say we're at King's Cross?" Dumbledore asked and Harry nodded. He then turned to Leila. "And the Hogwarts boathouse?" Leila nodded her head. Dumbledore softly smiled. "I'd say if you decided not to go back, you'd be able to board the train...or the boat, so to speak."_

" _And where would it take us?" Harry asked._

" _On," Dumbledore responded._

 _Leila hugged her brother and whispered an apology to Harry before she stepped into the boat. She hadn't gone back with Harry. She had decided to move on rather than return to the raging battle._

 _Dumbledore then looked directly at Leila, not the Leila standing next to him. But the Leila watching. "You made your choice, Leila. You moved on. Do not squander the opportunity you have been granted."_

Leila's eyes flashed open and she gasped. The room began to spin. Her mind was suddenly flooded with memories. Memories that didn't belong to her entwined with her own. She held her head once more, screaming in pain. Somehow after she had gone _on,_ she had ended up in a universe where her parents were alive. It was too much to process. So everything faded into darkness.

* * *

 **Author's Note: First, thank you to those of you who read this. I really appreciate it. Second, this is based off my Leila Potter series. I think this should be enough to get you through if you've only read the rewrites. I will flash back to things if I need to. Third, I am writing this for me. It is for fun. Please don't bash it. It is fanfiction after all.**

 **Side note: I do have another account. January Lily. I write for a ton more fandoms on that account. And Leila's early years story is on there. So, go check out if you want.**

 **I will keep this story of Leila's on this account, but that is the only thing from this account that will be updated.**


	2. Brothers and Sisters

Leila awoke once more. Her head was throbbing. The truth of the matter was that it all seemed so much to take in. Living in a different world? A world where her parents were alive. It seemed too good to be true, it probably was. But if there was one thing Leila was good at, it was compartmentalizing. She couldn't have another breakdown like earlier. Not if she planned on getting to the bottom of things. She also needed to act like nothing was the matter as to not raise any suspicions of the people around her. She hadn't done too well with that thus far.

Once again, she was in bed only this time the woman... _her mother_ was at her bedside. She was holding a wet cloth on Leila's head, pushing tendrils of hair from Leila's face, and humming. When the woman noticed that Leila was awake, she softly smiled at her. "Sometimes the Muggle way is just as efficient." She dabbed Leila's face with the cloth before resting it on her forehead again.

Something stirred within Leila. Her brow furrowed. She had memories of this woman: going to Diagon Alley, cooking, reading...and many, many others. They weren't Leila's memories, but they certainly felt like they could be hers. An _L_ shaped pendant swung from the woman's neck. Leila recognized it because it was hers...or at least it once had been. She reached up and wrapped her fingers around the silver pendant. She then looked at the woman wearing it. "Mum?" she barely croaked.

Lily smiled. "There's my sweet girl," Lily whispered softly. She wrapped one of her hands and Leila's and squeezed. "You sure gave your father and me a good fright." Lily shook her head and chuckled. "How are you feeling, darling?"

"My head hurts," Leila admitted, releasing her hand from the pendant. "And everything is a bit fuzzy."

"Your memories, you mean?"

Leila nodded her head.

Lily nodded hers. "That's to be expected after what happened." She dabbed Leila's face with the cloth again.

Leila's brow furrowed. "What happened?" She tried to sit up, but Lily's hand held her back.

"Not now, Leila Mae. Right now you need to focus your energy on getting better. Otherwise, you won't be headed to the World Cup and we both know how much you want to go to that." Lily looked at Leila rather suspiciously.

Embarrassed, Leila looked away and slumped back against her pillows. "Who's playing?" she asked, trying to make small talk with the mother she never knew. It was quite a thing to process, talking with her mother. Her mother caring for her as a mother should. While she was almost certain that a shoe was going to drop at some point, she was going to try to enjoy it for now.

"Ireland and Bulgaria, of course," James Potter said from his daughter's doorway. He smiled at his daughter before he walked in and stood at the end of her bed.

"Again?" Leila asked. She could have sworn that she saw that the World Cup had been cancelled due to Death Eater rampages. "They played each other four years ago."

"Sweetheart, four years ago, Scotland suffered bitter defeat to Canada."

Leila's brow furrowed. "That was in 1990."

"Yes, four years ago." Lily looked back at James and gave him a stern look. James cleared his throat. "How are you feeling, Leila?"

Leila sat there frozen, staring ahead and blinking slowly. Not only had she somehow ended up in a place where her family was still alive, but it was also almost four years prior. 1994. How the bloody hell? Leila closed her eyes and told herself not to panic. It would be no use to panic. Panicking wouldn't do her any good.

Breathe in.

Breathe out.

Don't panic.

"Sweetheart?" Lily said as she rubbed Leila's arm. "Sweetheart, are you feeling well?"

"It's just my...head," Leila said, her eyes still closed. "Just...just dizzy." She hoped that it was a believable enough lie. It wasn't like she could tell them what was really bothering her. That would go over really well. _Hey Mum and Dad, where I'm from you're dead...it's almost four years later...and oh yeah, I threw myself in front of a Killing Curse._ Yeah, just what any parent would love to hear.

"I told you not to over-exert her, James," Lily chastised her husband.

James groaned. "We were talking about Quidditch, Lils. A topic which you started, by the way."

Lily rolled her eyes at her husband before she returned her attention to her daughter. Leila wasn't sure what to make of all the attention...let alone her own mother's attention. It wasn't something she was very well versed in. But she liked it. This was something she had always craved and it was fully meeting her expectation.

"How about some pumpkin juice?" Lily asked. Leila nodded her head. Lily turned toward James. "Will you please go get Leila some pumpkin juice? And check on the boys please, they're far too quiet for my liking."

James smirked at his wife. "I'm sure they're not doing anything I wouldn't do."

"That's what scares me," Lily deadpanned.

James shook his head and walked over to Leila. He gently tousled his daughter's hair before he bent down and kissed the top of her head. "I'll be right back, Leila," he told her.

Leila's eyes misted and she found herself choking up. She couldn't remember ever hearing those words from her parents. She had been only a little over a year old when they had died. Never had she heard such simple words spoken so lovingly. They were simple words, said quite frequently. But to Leila, they meant much more. They meant that he was planning to come back to her.

James looked at his daughter curiously. "You alright, Leils?"

Leila smiled and nodded her head. James didn't look completely convinced but he left anyway. A few seconds later there was a loud banging noise from another room. Instinctively, Leila tried to shield herself with one arm while reaching for her wand with another. But once again, she couldn't find her wand.

Lily noticed the look of panic on Leila's face. She reached out and grabbed her daughter's hand. "It's okay, Leila. It's probably one, or more, of your brothers." With her other hand, Lily brushed Leila's curls behind her ear. Lily smiled at Leila, whose brow was furrowed. "Sweetheart, what is it?"

 _Brothers_. She had said, brothers. Leila had only ever known one brother: Harry. She had never had other siblings before. The prospect was somewhat terrifying. What were they like? Would like her? There was a pang in her heart. Harry. Would Harry be the same? Would he be like her Harry? Was he _her_ Harry? She hadn't stayed to see if Harry went back or went on with her. She didn't know. It was more likely that he went back to fight, but still, he also had the option.

"Leila," Lily said getting her daughter's attention. "What's the matter."

Leila blinked slowly and looked at her mother. "Where-where's my wand?" she asked. Although she supposed that could have been a stupid question. What if she was a Squib in this world? Although the Gryffindor wall-hangings told her otherwise, it was still a slight possibility. Then again, the fact that she was Gryffindor-obsessed was quite a change. In her world, she had been a Slytherin. She wondered if she had been a hat-stall in his world too...or the other Leila...if that's what had happened. It was all quite confusing and honestly, she wasn't sure she would get the answers she wanted. Leila had been so lost in her thoughts that she had missed Lily's explanation.

Lily gently grabbed her daughter's face and turned her head so that they were looking at each other. "Did you hear what I told you?" Sheepishly, Leila shook her head. "Your father and I are holding onto your wand for now. We'll give it back when we think you're feeling up to things. We don't want you over-doing things. You forget that we know you."

 _No, you don't_ ,Leila thought. _You have no idea the things I've been through, the things I've seen_. Her bottom lip quivered. "I-I would feel more comfortable with it. Just in case," Leila said.

"Leila, you know you can always talk to me."

 _No,_ _I can't._ But Leila simply nodded her head. Lily waited for Leila to say something more, but she didn't. Lily sighed, knowing she wasn't going to get more out of her daughter. She had heard that the teenage years were the hardest, but she had always been close to Leila.

Lily sighed once more. "Your Father and I will talk about it, sweetheart."

Leila nodded her head and cast her glance upward. It wasn't the reaction Lily had expected. She had expected more of a fight from Leila on the matter. She could tell that something was bothering her daughter, but she didn't have an opportunity to ask more because James walked in. For this, Leila was grateful.

James carried the small girl from earlier in one arm and a goblet of pumpkin juice in the other hand. His hair looked a little more disheveled and his clothes were splattered in red. Lily looked at him curiously when another banging noise resounded. "Andrew and Charlus are at it again," James sighed as he handed the goblet over to Leila who was still in a recoiled position. She tried to make it look like she hadn't been as she grabbed the goblet and began to drink.

Lily chewed her bottom lip as she looked at Leila. But when the third banging noise came, Lily groaned and threw her hands up in exasperation. "Sometimes I think you encourage this behavior," she directed toward her husband.

"It's harmless fun, Lils," James chuckled.

"Is that what our professors thought?" Lily quickly retorted back, folding her arms across her chest. "Harmless fun doesn't land one in detention _that_ frequently, James Potter."

James sat down and bounced the young girl on his knee. He smirked at Lily. "If I recall correctly, you had your fair share of detentions seventh year too." He winked.

Lily blushed but managed to remain collected. "It was only once."

James shook his head with a smile on his face. "Twice actually. One for the broom cupboard on the third floor and…"

"James Potter! Not in front of our daughters!" Lily looked absolutely mortified which made James throw his head back and laugh. "I mean it!"

"Ivy has no idea what we're talking about and I'm sure Leila's ran into a snogging couple or two in the castle."

Leila's face flushed in embarrassment but she was also mesmerized by her parent's banter. It was actually quite adorable. She also realized that the little girl she had scared-off earlier was apparently her sister, Ivy. Leila looked at the little girl whose arms were wrapped around James's neck and her head buried in the crook of his neck. She was looking at Leila. Leila smiled at her. She had always wanted a sister.

There was another banging noise.

"James Potter," Lily groaned under her breath before she marched out of the room.

James watched Lily walk away before he looked between his daughters. "She probably wants me to go with her, huh?" Leila chuckled and Ivy nodded her head vigorously. James smiled before he set Ivy down on the end of Leila's bed. He kissed the top of Ivy's head and tousled Leila's hair. With that, he followed after Lily leaving Leila alone with the Ivy.

Leila watched the little girl in front of her, who watched her right back, and Leila couldn't help but notice their similarities. They had the same nose. They both had freckles. They had similar chins. Ivy couldn't be more than seven. It was strange seeing someone besides Harry look anything like her. Leila shifted in her bed. "So...Ivy?"

The little girl nodded her head. Leila wasn't sure how to phrase this. She had met her parents, a younger sister, and there were apparently two other younger brothers. The only one she hadn't heard anything about was Harry. Judging from the photograph on the wall, which couldn't have been more than a year old, Harry was in the picture...or at least he had been. She needed to know. She needed to know whether Harry had made the jump with her. That would help her determine how she should proceed.

Leila cleared her throat. "Ivy, where's Harry?"

* * *

 **Author's Note: And another one bites the dust! Here's another chapter! :) Thank you to everyone who made the jump with me into this AU! So, which Harry do you think we'll run into? Do you think Voldemort exists? Just curious on your predictions!**

 **Big shout out to my reviewers: hoqwaarts, Saige Marie, T.K. Ross, xXMizz Alec VolturiXx, GinnyPotterr, Blue Kat, letthestarssing, Bookcrazey, Slytherin Winchester, Loonuh Lovegood, 1seddiefan, Bluebell Winter**


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